1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to artificial snow tiles. More specifically, this invention relates to artificial snow tile systems. More specifically, this invention relates to artificial snow tile systems that are optionally provided with aerodynamic features and backlightability.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Seasonal decorations are increasingly popular and snow motifs for the Christmas season are overwhelmingly the most popular themes. Snow is rare before or on Christmas in the U.S. Northeast and most of the remaining United States. As a result, many people attempt to make snow like decorations using cloth, white plastic film, or painted plywood panels. There is even use of dense powders and the like. There is however no easily portable realistic system to synthesize the appearance of snow drifts.
In addition to the need for decorative snows, there is a further need for simulated snow for winter sports. In these uses, plastic pads, coatings, and tiles have been used. The surface may be a flat poured slippery surface such as high density polyethylene, or it may be roughened to make it more snow-like. In the most effective simulated functional snows, fibrous mats of polymeric materials are used to give a surface like the working end of a scrub brush that allows ski actions. These simulated functional snow surfaces are neither snow like in appearance nor decorative.
There is a need for an easy-to-use decorative surface that looks like snow and is useful as part of a seasonal decoration scheme.
The present invention provides a simple, easy to use and easy to store, reusable, decorative interlocking or intermeshing artificial snow tile system comprising one or more artificial snow tiles. The tiles are provided with a rough surface, have a dull white luster and are optionally backlightable and wind-resistant. While a tile may be almost any dimension and thickness; preferably, the tile is at least 12 inches in one direction (width or length) and preferably made of minimal thickness, typically under 0.1 inches.
The platelets can be made of any material, or combination of materials, that are inherently, or modifiably can be, shaped and colored to appear snow-like. Such materials include, but are not limited to, plastic, foam, metal, wood, a combination of incompatible polymers, a combination of partially incompatible polymers, filled polyethylene, filled polystyrene, filled polypropylene, polyethylene with at least 4% polypropylene content and polyethylene with at least 4% polystyrene content.
An important part of the decorative aspect of the invention is a roughness of the surface which consists of either small lumps within a flattened luster material or a highly flattened material made by mixture of partially or wholly incompatible polymers or by addition of mineral fillers in addition to pigments in quantities which aid in producing a flat, luster or reflection free surface.
The platelet is tile-like in that it provides a snow-like surface and this surface is pre-formed prior to use by any of a number of methods to show humps, lumps and drifts typical of actual snow appearance.
Several additional features work together to provide backlighting ability for enhanced visual impact, to provide a smooth continuous drift look and to increase resistance to wind forces.
Generally, the edges of a platelet can be any shape: straight, curved or otherwise. In the most preferred embodiment, the edges of the platelet are irregularly shaped. Regardless of the particular shape used, the shapes of opposite edges (top-bottom, right-left) must be mirror images of each other so they may either interlock or intermesh with other tiles for creating continuous stretches of the snow-like tiles that are many tiles wide and/or long and are without gaps, which detract from the snow drift appearance.
With a preferred embodiment, the interlocking edges are set as seemingly irregular edges but the attaching edges also conform to the same seemingly irregular configuration so that the edges in fact meet along the entire irregular length of the platelet. S shapes, Z shapes, other geometrical combinations or random shapes may be used to form the edges. It is important that the platelets are arrangable in a full edge to edge configuration or a configuration such that the tiles overlap adjacent tiles to create the same continuous snow drift appearance.
The elements that must cooperate in forming a decoration that is realistic are internal lighting chambers or channels, a rough surface that varies in thickness, and edges that intermesh or interlock.
The snow platelets of snow appearing plastic are arranged with small passages in the edges which are approximately normal to the overall edge of the platelet and which allow the passage of wires from tile to tile. The use of these passages is to allow the internal lighting of the snow appearance platelets, thus providing the look of glowing mounds of snow, or in some cases using well known flashing light systems, of snow banks that momentarily light up.
A further feature of the snow appearing platelets is the ability to be affixed by affixing methods to the ground or to roof surfaces. A series of attaching means may be employed to attach the platelets to the ground or roof surfaces or to interlock the platelets with roof shingles. Attaching can be effectuated via tacks, nails, VELCRO ((trademark)), screws, glue, tape or any other well known and obvious attaching means. Interlocking with roof shingles may be effectuated with tabs or other obvious or well known shapes or configurations that are connected to the platelets and emanate from the bottom or sides of the platelets, where the tabs or other configurations engage roof shingles to hold the platelets securely to a roof surface. For example, engagement may be effectuated by having a tab underlie a roof shingle.
Additionally, flap and ledge pairs may be molded into the opposite platelet edges (top-bottom, right-left), with or without pre-formed holes, so that a nail, tack, stake or other similar attaching means may pass through the edge and engage the surface to which the platelet is to be attached. The flap and ledge pairs are distinct from the means for attaching tiles to a surface, as discussed above. The flaps and ledges should be carefully positioned along the edges so that they may cooperatively overlap, or be overlapped by, the flap or ledge of an adjacent platelet. In the preferred embodiment, the flaps have preformed holes and are located towards the middle of the edges to best secure the platelets to a surface and to help minimize Bernoulli vacuum points at the edges of the platelets. While flaps and ledges are not required, they are preferred. For example, rather than having to pass a nail through a decorative part of a tile, it may be passed through a flap-ledge pair so as not to detract from the decorative aspects of the tile.
In addition to the affixing means, an aerodynamic shape may be formed on the platelet surface so that air flowing over the top of the platelet exerts a downward holding force upon the platelet. A domed shape, bump or similar shape located at the edges further enhances the design which helps prevent Bernoulli vacuum points at the edges of the platelets and thus aids in the hold down of the tiles in storm or windy conditions. The wind forces are minimized by the provision of the domed shape, bump or similar shape which cause a downward force at the front edges of the shapes much like the shape of an airplane wing. It has been found that it is not necessary to have the wing shape lumps continuous but if they are at or near the corners of each shape, the wind forces direct downward and help hold the shape to a roof or to the ground.